Coastal Scents Haul!

I've been in dire need of a new gel liner for months now, and I'd read about Coast Scent's gel liner on a few blogs ages ago. The main thing stopping me from immediately purchasing is $50 needed to get free shipping. I didn't rack up $50 worth of purchases, but I figured this mini lot would make it more worth my while.

Really appreciated how CS just used a box large enough to hold everything. Not like all the other companies that use huge oversized boxes.

CS Divine Line Eyeliner- Black

The packaging is bulky, but I like how there's a brush attached. Unfortunately it is quite thick and my lines become uneven. It has been compared to MAC Fluidline and rated to be similar by other bloggers. The application is extremely smooth and the color is indeed a nice black. Unfortunately it does smudge with a big of water, and gave me panda eyes by the end of 8 hours. If you do check up/ touch it up throughout the day I think it should be no problem though.

CS HD Foundation

I was extremely interested in this product, but if you know me then you know my skin tone is weird. So I purchased 3 of their sample sets. I'm so glad I did get the Fair set after all- at first I thought I wasn't that light. People claim that the stock photos misrepresent the colors, and that the colors are actually lighter irl. I found the opposite to be true. The colors were darker irl for me.

The overall texture is nice, and would work for those with slightly oily skin to slightly dry skin. It does indeed give a nice appearance for photos.

I really don't understand the numbering. And some colors were so red and unfortunate looking.

Left to Right: 01, 02, 03

Left to Right: 3B, 04, 4B, 05

Left to Right: 2B, 5B, 06, 08

Top Row, Left to Right: 01, 02, 2B, 03, 04, 4B
Bottom Row, Left to Right: 05, 5B, 06, 08

I googled to see approximately which color I should be and arrived at the answer ST-4B for NW20 skin. When I first applied, I mentally screamed in horror as the color looked too dark and yellow. However, I'd forgotten that I tanned these past few days! The color is still a tidge too yellow for me, but it's barely noticeable.

I mixed 4B with the pink toned 01 and got something that would work for my winter color.

Coastal Scents Silica Powder Spheres

This product does help is smoothing out the look of the pores, but as you can see, it also has issues with flash. I'm lighter, so the effect is less harsh, but you will want to blend this product in very very well.

Coastal Scents Fragrance Oil- Sweet Musk

I think I must really be unable to detect musk. I do get a "woodsy" and candy "sweet" scent, but they are very faint and I smell nothing else.

Coastal Scents Fragrance Oil- Gardenia

Smells floral =), not the heavy cloying scent.

The other things I will maybe review another time!

Review: Make Up For Ever HD Foundation +Powder, Eshiko Face Powder, & Smashbox BB Cream

I've been trying to find something for full coverage and people keep talking about Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation. Today, I spent a good hour in Sephora trying to match foundation colors (and testing other brands as well). I finally settled on #117.

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation

COLOR: The color looks to be ever so slightly too light and yellow at first (I am NW15-20). However, after giving it time to settle, the color darkens (good for NC20). Initially I thought the color being off wasn't too bad, especially for photos, but irl it looks terrible because the tone is not right.

COVERAGE: Medium. It didn't cover everything, but for a photo it will work.

TEXTURE: Blends nicely and leaves you with a matte finish.

PROS: I love how it smoothed out my pores. It's as if someone took the blur tool to my face.

CONS: Drying to my dry skin. As time passed, the makeup started showing the flakes.

I will have to return this because at $42 it cannot just sit around here. It does have my desired coverage effect, so I wish MUFE would come out with one for dry skin.

Make Up For Ever HD Powder


I have heard so much about this powder, and today I finally got the travel sized 5g to try out. It was $16 I believe, which is a lot more reasonable to try out products. I am really loving the travel sized products Sephora is offering. Some things you just want to try, and some you don't use as much of and buying the full sized is burdensome. I want to snag Benefit's High Beam travel set next ($12).

I packed the product on, and found that I did notice it smoothing out the makeup. The dry flakes of skin that were starting to show due to the HD foundation appeared a bit more blurred. This powder does lighten skin a bit. I can see how those flash photo mishaps would be glaring on those with darker skin tones. With this product you must take care to really blend the product well. I missed a couple spots in my photo.

This is a product that drys out skin and produces a matte effect, so those of us with dry skin might have to moisturize heavily. I'm not sure I want to continue using this powder because of my dry skin, but I'll hold onto it for a bit longer.

Eshiko Face Powder


I reviewed Eshiko before, but now I get to compare it against MUFE's HD powder. Again, I packed the powder on. There was not much improvement in the appearance of my makeup. In fact, I think this powder made things worse with this foundation. Areas started clumping together and it was quite unsightly. Perhaps it would fare better with a powder foundation. It did feel a little less drying than the MUFE HD powder- I'm assuming it's because it is more finely milled.

Applied on left side of face means that it is on the left side when you look at it (Left side of pic). It looked a bit too dark, so I tried using Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No.13 as a highlight.

BEFORE:

Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream-Light

I'm really glad the sales associate took note of my skin shade while giving me the sample. However, it's still too dark for me. When he gave me the sample he said, "And the BB, you just pat *gestures* around your eyes, use as a primer or your foundation". 

COLOR: Too dark for me, maybe good for a NC20-25?

COVERAGE: Medium

TEXTURE: Easy to Blend, but drying on top. It has a certain sticking quality that is good as a primer.

Imo, it's already pretty heavy coverage-wise. Putting foundation on top of this is a bit strange to me. You'll likely end up breaking out more.

Fresh Sugar Lip Tint Treatment- Passion

You already know how much I love this from my review of the Rose one. Well, the Rose kind of melted and fell apart (don't leave in your car). So I went to Sephora and picked me up the full sized Passion. It has a good amount of color without going overboard. I can apply this in the church bathroom without fear of the old ladies judging me.

Recap of Before and After:

As a side note, I took a color vision test. Turns out I can perfectly distinguish hues (that's no mistakes!). It's kind of fun, try it. http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?pageid=77&lang=en

I also tried the L'oreal Age Perfect Advanced Skin Repair Serum that came in the Allure magazine (yes, they still send me these). It has that translucent color every serum has, and smells a bit like sweet potatoes o_O. My dry skin is left feeling non-dry and a little more touchable. Hmm, not bad. No idea if the age repair part actually works or not.